Effects of a lectin-like protein isolated from Acacia farnesiana seeds on phytopathogenic bacterial strains and root-knot nematode

Acacia farnesiana lectin-like protein (AFAL) showed bacterioestatic effects against Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. passiflorae (Gram-negative) and Clavibacter michiganensis michiganensis (Gram-positive), with the latter being more sensitive. This effect is probably due to the ability of AFAL to interact with the bacterial cell wall where we observed that AFAL induced macroscopic change. The maximum bacterial growth inhibition was approximately 78% when incubated with Gram-negative strains, and as high as 92% percent for the Gram-positive one. The antibacterial effect of flavonoids (rutin, quercetin and morin) was also observed using low concentrations against both bacterial strains. Prior incubation of both with AFAL at high concentrations increases the inhibitory effect of flavonoids on bacterial growth. The potential use of AFAL as a control agent against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita was investigated as well, showing anti-nematode properties involving both egg hatching and motility. In the juvenile second-stage, AFAL showed reduction in larval mobility when measured against a control group. The results suggest that AFAL is effective against M. incognita and could be used as a component of integrated pest management programs. These data also suggest that lectins probably play a role in plant defense not only against invertebrate phytopathogens, herbivores and fungi but also against bacteria.     

Characterization of aflatoxigenic and non-aflatoxigenic strains of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus</Emphasis> section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Flavi</Emphasis> isolated from corn grains of different geographic origins in Brazil

Aflatoxins can cause great economic losses and serious risks to humans and animals health. The largest aflatoxin producers belong to Aspergillus section Flavi and can occur naturally in food commodities. Studies showed that molecular tools as well as the type of sclerotia produced by the strains could be helpful for identification of Aspergillus species and could be correlated with levels of toxin production. The purpose of this work was to characterize the genetic diversity using AFLP technique, the type of sclerotia and the ability of aflatoxin production by isolated strains from corn of different origins in Brazil, and to verify whether qPCR based on aflR and aflP genes is appropriate for estimating the level of aflatoxin production. All the 75 strains were classified as A. flavus and the AFLP technique showed a wide intraspecific variability within them. Regarding sclerotia production, 34% were classified as S and 66% as L type. Among the aflatoxin-producers, 52.8% produced aflatoxin B₁, while 47.2% aflatoxins B₁ and B₂. Statistical analysis showed no correlation between sclerotia production and aflatoxigenicty, and no correlation between the phylogenetic clusters and aflatoxin production. Concerning the relative expression of aflR and aflP, Pearson’s correlation test demonstrated low positive correlation between the expression of the aflR and aflP genes and the production of AFB₁ and AFB₂, but showed high positive correlation between aflR and aflP expression. In contrast to the other reference strains, A. oryzae ATCC 7282 showed no amplification of aflR and aflP. The results highlight the need for detection of reliable and reproducible markers with a high positive correlation with aflatoxin production.     

Effects of feeding a multivalent polyclonal antibody preparation on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, rumenitis, and blood gas profile in Bos indicus biotype yearling bulls

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of feeding monensin (MON) or a multivalent polyclonal antibody preparation (PAP) against several rumen microorganisms on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, blood gas profile, and rumenitis of Bos indicus biotype (BT) yearling bulls. The study was designed as a completely randomized design with a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement, replicated 4 times, in which 32 yearling bulls of each of 3 BT evaluated (3-way-cross, TC; Canchim, CC; and Nellore, NE) were fed diets containing either MON at 300 mg·d(-1) or PAP at 10 mL·d(-1) across 3 different periods. No significant (P > 0.10) feed additive (FA) main effects were observed for any of the feedlot performance variables and carcass characteristics with the exception of dressing percentage. Yearling bulls receiving PAP had a decreased (P = 0.047) dressing percentage when compared with yearling bulls receiving MON. Significant (P < 0.05) BT main effects were observed for all feedlot performance variables and carcass characteristics with the exception of kidney-pelvic fat expressed in kilograms (P = 0.49) and LM lipids content (P = 0.45). Crossbred yearling bulls (TC and CC) had greater (P < 0.001) ADG, DMI in kilograms, DMI as % of BW, and improved (P = 0.001) G:F when compared with NE yearling bulls. A tendency (P = 0.072) for a FA main effect was observed for rumenitis scores, in which yearling bulls receiving PAP had lesser rumenitis scores than those receiving MON. When the data were disposed as frequency percentage, 55.6% and 45.7% of the rumens from yearling bulls fed PAP and MON were scored between 0 and 1, respectively (0 = no lesions, 10 = severe lesions). Likewise, a significant BT main effect was observed (P = 0.008), where NE yearling bulls had greater rumenitis scores than those of crossbred yearling bulls (TC and CC). No significant FA main effects were observed (P > 0.10) for any of the fatty acids measured in the subcutaneous adipose tissue, with the exception that yearling bulls receiving MON had greater (P < 0.05) concentrations of palmitic acid (16:0), margaric acid (17:0), docosapentaenoic acid (22:5), and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) than those yearling bulls receiving PAP. Feeding PAP tended to decrease incidence of rumen lesions and led to similar feedlot performance compared with feeding MON. Thus, PAP is a new technology that presents a possible alternative for ionophores.     

Immunogenicity in dogs of three recombinant antigens (TSA, LeIF and LmSTI1) potential vaccine candidates for canine visceral leishmaniasis

Control of canine visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains a difficult and serious problem mostly because there is no reliable and effective vaccine available to prevent this disease. A mixture of three recombinant leishmanial antigens (TSA, LeIF and LmSTI1) encoded by three genes highly conserved in the Leishmania genus have been shown to induce excellent protection against infection in both murine and simian models of cutaneous leishmaniasis. A human clinical trial with these antigens is currently underway. Because of the high degree of conservation, these antigens might be useful vaccine candidates for VL as well. In the present study, using the dog model of the visceral disease, we evaluated the immunogenicity of these three antigens formulated with two different adjuvants, MPL-SE and AdjuPrime. The results were compared with a whole parasite vaccine formulated with BCG as the adjuvant. In order to investigate if sensitization with the recombinant antigens would result in recognition of the corresponding native parasite antigens upon infection, the animals were exposed for four weeks after the termination of the immunization protocol with the recombinant antigens to a low number of L. chagasi promastigotes, an etiological agent of VL. Immune response was evaluated by quantitative ELISA in the animal sera before and after exposure to the viable parasites. Both antigen specific IgG1 and IgG2 antibody levels were measured. Immunization of dogs with the recombinant antigens formulated in either MPL-SE or AdjuPrime resulted in high antibody levels particularly to LmSTI1. In addition, this immunization although to low levels, resulted in the development of antibody response to the whole parasite lysate. Importantly, experimental exposure with low numbers of culture forms of L. chagasi promastigotes caused a clear boost in the immune response to both the recombinant antigens and the corresponding native molecules. The boost response was predominantly of the IgG2 isotype in animals primed with the recombinant antigens plus MPL-SE. In contrast, animals primed with the recombinant antigens formulated in AdjuPrime as well as animals vaccinated with crude antigen preparation responded with mixed IgG1/IgG2 isotypes. These results point to the possible use of this antigen cocktail formulated with the adjuvant MPL-SE in efficacy field trials against canine VL.     

Cytokine mRNA expression and pathological findings in pigs inoculated with African swine fever virus (E-70) deleted on A238L

African swine fever virus (ASFV) induces a variety of immune responses and clinical forms in domestic pigs. As it is the only member of the Asfarviridae family, ASFV encodes many novel genes not encoded by other virus families. Among these genes, A238L may regulate the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines, controlled mainly by NFkappaB and NFAT pathways. In this study, we inoculated two groups of pigs, one with the ASFV highly virulent E-70 isolate, deleted on A238L gene, and the other group with the parental E-70 isolate. No significant differences were observed in the clinical signs or pathology between both groups. However, the TNF-alpha mRNA expression was strongly enhanced in the PBMC from pigs inoculated with the virus deleted in A238L, reinforcing the role of the A238L gene in the inhibition of the NFkappaB pathway of expression of cytokines. No up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines was observed in the PBMC of animals inoculated with the E-70 isolate, even though apoptosis and haemorrhages were evident and might be related to the presence of bystander monocyte-macrophages expressing these cytokines. Other studies using ASFV deleted in other genes inoculated in the natural hosts should be performed to gain further insight into the role of these genes in the pathogenesis of ASF.     

Molecular diversity of Brazilian strains of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2)

Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2) is associated with a broad range of syndromes. In this study, eight pig tissue samples from two Brazilian states were analyzed using six PCR primer pairs amplifying a 1705-bp fragment of the PCV-2 genome. The NJ distance-based method was used for the phylogenetic analysis with the eight field strains herein, 15 GenBank sequences and using PCV-1 as an out-group. This yielded two major clusters (A and B) for this viral species, with the Brazilian strains segregating with European and Asian sequences. Nucleotide identity was 99.7 to 100% among the sequences. This information can be used in further studies of pathogenesis related to PCV-2 in Brazil.     

RAPD analysis of genetic diversity among and within Portuguese landraces of common white bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Seventeen landraces of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) sampled in the North and Centre of Portugal were analyzed at population level for 689 RAPD loci amplified by using forty random primers. The two different parameters used to estimate the genetic variability in and between samples indicate that the inter-population component of the genetic variability is mainly responsible for the diversity found, since only about a 10% would be of an intra-population nature. In addition, the gametic disequilibrium was estimated and reached an average value of 40% for the different combinations of pairs in the 689 loci studied taking the 17 samples as a whole population. Self-pollination, genetic drift and adaptation would thus be favouring the formation of multilocus associations. In addition, the fingerprinting study suggests that each landrace produced unique amplification products allowing it to be distinguished from the other tested genotypes, but, nevertheless, the landraces show a considerable genetic similarity (56% and 70.5% using two different methods). The Neighbour-Joining dendrogram did not show any relation between the geographical distribution of landraces and genetic distance. The results suggest that these Portuguese landraces conserved an important genetic diversity that can be useful to widen the genetic base of currently cultivated beans.